The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/807252
thelinguist.uberflip.com APrIL/MAY 2017 The Linguist 29 Madeleine Kilminster is Production Assistant at Scholastics and a member of The Linguist Editorial Board. TL and forming a life together, she struggles to lift the veil of mystique that surrounds her husband and fears his 'true' self may remain forever inaccessible to her. even when relatively fluent in your partner's language, you can be haunted by wondering if you truly know them. I knew moments when, at pains to make the other understand, our speech would dissolve into a key-word-staccato that lost all meaning and we would inevitably give up. Like when you explain a punch-line and it is no longer funny, the impact was often lost. We once spent ages comparing the British and German connotations of konservativ – which he had used off-hand to describe some fellow students. Frustration came in low moments when we would rather mumble 'dunno' or 's'alright' but instead had to enunciate to make the other understand. I feared these moments revealed the accumulating debt of understanding between us. As collins discovers when she starts learning French, a further challenge is leaving the mental classroom. casting a shadow over my relationship was a hovering highlighter critiquing everything I said. Wishing to appear as nonchalantly native as possible, I would crowbar in as many ja genau's, na's and naja's as I could. the preoccupation with contriving authenticity created a sense of detachment which prevented me from letting go, acquiescing in a lover's suspension of logic. It is difficult now to disentangle the rush I felt when I did achieve fluency from the genuine high of the emotional connection. Perhaps collins has mastered it. having increased her fluency and grown into her French self, she and olivier now live in Paris where they have raised a bilingual daughter. I do wonder, though, whether there are still moments of miscommunication which hint at the immovable unknown between them. or perhaps it is the enduring existence of subtle enigma and exoticism that can provide a boundless source of the excitement of love between languages. When in French (2016) by Lauren Collins is published by Fourth Estate; ISBN 978-0008-10059-9. Q. Tell us about your role with Mergermarket A. I work part time while doing an MSc in Security Studies at university college London. Mergermarket offers business development tools and analysis to help global companies monitor mergers and acquisitions activity. It has an extensive database that logs all merger and acquisition deals, and my role is to fill this in with research on mergers and acquisitions in the German-speaking regions. Q. What does an average day look like? A. After answering emails, I go through all the deals I have been sent and start prioritising my research based on deal value, company, access availability and potential contacts. My main task is to look at who worked on the deals – companies, accountants, financial advisors – and to add this information to the database. My role essentially involves gathering as much information as possible, which is then used in the quarterly reports that Mergermarket publishes on the deals. Q. What attracted you to the role? A. I'm interested in mergers and acquisitions as a concept, but I also liked the fact that language proficiency was a requirement. All the research and communications that I do are in German. the job specification also said experience in journalism was required, which is an area I'm interested in. Q. How has proficiency in German helped with the work? A. Speaking German is essential for working in the German mergers and acquisitions markets. I do most of my research via email, and this is all in German. I've also had to learn business German on the job, as it is very much a requirement of the role. Q. Tell us about your Masters A. It is fundamentally politics, but focuses on conflicts, terrorism, and environmental and human security. A benefit of my position at Mergermarket is that I can keep up my language skills at the same time. Q. Are you planning to use your languages after your MSc? A. I hope so. I'm glad I did German as it's a business language, and having another language is never a setback. It's a sought- after skill. however, my interest in international security and public policy means I have to keep my options open. Interview by Amy Wakeham. Why Catherine Dawkins chose a research role in mergers after graduating from Birmingham University in German and European Studies Just the job OPINION & COMMENT